Means for applying lifts to heels



May 22, 1934. w KOHLER ETAL 1,959,721

MEANS FOR APPLYING LIFTS TO HEELS Original Filed Dec. 12. 1931 W INVEIIVTOR 1%? m BY W lliam ATTORNEY patented May 22, 193 4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR APPLYING LIFTS TO HEELS William Kohler and Ernest Marquardt, Newark, N. J., assignors of seventeen per cent to James J. Gallagher, Union, N. J., and seventeen per cent to James C. Reilly, Newark, N. J.

Application December 12, 1931, Serial No. 580,620 Renewed September 8, 1933 11 Claims.

The present invention relates to means for removably applying lifts to heels.

The bases of the heels of ladies shoes, are usually small and there is a practical limit to the number of times fresh lifts may be attached thereto by nailing as is ordinarily done, because of the resulting destruction of the heel.

It is one object of the present invention to provide means whereby fresh lifts may be applied to such heels as often and as many times as desired.

The frequent necessity for the application of fresh lifts itself is also an annoying factor.

ing said lift in 'place.

It is a further object to provide a simple structure which may be cheaply manufactured.

Still another object is to provide a device which is extremely simple in operation and requires a minimum amount of manipulation in the attachment of the lift to the heel.

With the above and other objects in view, our invention comprises the novel arrangement, construction, and combination of hereinafter more fully described, fined in the appended claims.

elements to be shown and de- In the accompanying drawing which forms part of this specification and in which similar reference characters denote corresponding parts:-

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the heel of a ladys shoe containing our novel lift attaching means;

Fig. 2 is a sectional detail of the locking mechanism for holding the lift in place;

Fig. 3 is a section along line 3-3 of Fig. 2 seen in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of taching means thereon;

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. locking mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig the lift and at- 2 of a modified 2 of a further modified locking mechanism; and

Figs. '7 and 8 are respectively sections along lines 7-4 and 88 of Fig. 6 both seen in the direction of the respective arrows.

Referring to the drawing, 10 denotes a heel of a ladys shoe, and is shown in the present instance as the so called French heel.

Provided at the front of the heel and extending into the latter is a bore 10 Adapted to be moun ted in said bore 10 is a socket member 11 having cylindrical shape and having a reduced portion 11 Extending diametrically through said member is a hole 12 Which latter registers with a hole 13 in the heel for a purpose hereinafter to be specified.

A laterally extending slot 14 is provided in the reduced portion 11 of said member, the said slot extending into said member at an angle of substantially 13 with the axis of said hole 12. The lower end of said slot terminates in said hole 12, so that a cylindrical roller 15 deposited in said slot will partially project into said hole 12 when said roller is at the bottom of said slot.

A longitudinally cut groove 16 is cut in the wall of the reduced portion 11 of the socket member extending at right angles to the slot 14 and tapering downwardly toward said slot at an angle of approximately with the horizontal axis of the member.

Axially extending into socket member 11 is a hole 17 which has an enlarged counter-sunk por- V v tion 17 at its outer end. The inner end of said hole terminates in the slot 14.

Adapted to be slidably mounted in said hole 17 is a pin member 18 whose inner end is conically shaped and whose outer end is provided with an enlarged rounded head 18 and which is adapted to freely move in the counter-sunk portion 17 of said member 11.

A leaf spring 19 is adapted to be mounted in groove 16 and its forward end is adapted to push downwardly on roller 15 to continuously urge it into the bottom of said slot. A spring 20 between the inner wall of counter-sunk portion 17 and the shoulder formed by the head 18 of pin 18 serves to push the latter outwardly away from slot 14.

A sleeve 21 whose outer end is provided with a cover 22 having a tapered hole 23 is mounted on member 11 so that sleeve 21 lies on the countersunk portion 11 thereof and the rounded end of head 18 projects through hole 23. The diameter of the latter is so admeasured as to prevent the head from completely passing therethrough. In this way spring 19 and pin 18 are retained in place.

Mounted in a counter-sunk portion of the heel base is a disc 24 which latter may be retained in place by means of barbs 25 integrally formed with the disc, which are driven into the heel. Other suitable means for retaining disc 24 in place may be equally as well employed. Disc 24 has therein a hole 26 which registers with the lower end of hole 13. Additional holes 27 are provided in disc 24 and depressions 28 may be provided in the heel opposite said holes for a purpose to be hereinafter specified.

The lift 29 which is adapted to be mounted on the heel may be of leather, rubber or any other suitable material of usual shape, the dimensions of its upp r face being substantially the same as the heel base. The said upper face is provided with a counter-sunk portion 29 directly opposite the counter-sunk portion in the heel base and adapted to be mounted in said counter-sunk portion is a disk 30 which may be permanently fixed to said lift by means of barbs 31 integrally formed with said disk and which may be driven into said lift and their pointed ends 31 turned over to prevent removal of said disc 30 from said lift.

Projecting upwardly from said disc 30 and firmly attached thereto is a plunger member 32 serving as a male member and so admeasured in diameter as to fill the hole 13. The length of said rod is so admeasured that it extends through hole 12 in socket member 11 when the upper face of the lift rests against the heel base. 3 Suitable pins 34 are attached to disc 30 in such position as to project into holes 27 in disc 24 when the lift 29 is against the heel base to prevent rotation of said lift about plunger member 32.

All of the attaching means hitherto described are preferably of a strong wear resisting, nonbrittle substance such as steel or the like.

In use, the application of a lift merely requires the insertion of the plunger member 32 thereof into hole 13. The same is then pushedinto hole 12 until the lift rests against the heel with pins 34 in engagement with holes 2'7. The roller'l5 pressed downwardly by spring 19 firmly presses against plunger member 32 and prevents removal of the latter. The lift is therefore firmly held on the base of the heel.

To remove a worn lift, it is necessary to disengage roller 15 from plunger member 32. This is effected by pushing inwardly on head 18 of pin 18. The conical end of the latter, which is below the roller 15, then engages the latter and forces it upwardly in slot 14 against the action of spring 19 releasing the engagement between the roller and member 32. At such time the lift and its member 32 are readily removable from the heel.

A slightly modified form of the above described embodiment of our invention. may comprise the substitution of a ball member 35 for roller 15. In such event slot 14 is replaced by a hole 36 at the same angle as said slot in socket member 11. The other parts remain the same and the operation too is the same. Ball member 35 is preferably of steel or other hard wear resisting material.

A further embodiment of our invention is shown in Figs. 6-8 inclusive. Herein parts numbered as before are identical with those originally described.

In place of socket member 11, we substitute a socket member 37 also having cylindrical shape and adapted to be inserted into bore 10 in place of member -11. Member 37 has a diametrically extending hole 38 admeasured in diameter to equal the diameter of plunger member 32 and registering with hole 13. The upper portion of said hole 38 is counter-sunk with a larger bore 38 and the shoulder 38 joining the two holes is tapered. Slidably borne in bore 38 is a cylindrically shaped member 39 whose lower end is conically shaped to correspond to the shape of shoulder 38 A central axial hole 39 is provided in said member slightly larger in diameter than plunger member 32 so that the member freely moves thereon. Hole 39 has a countersunk portion 39 in which a compression spring 40 may rest. An overall covering sleeve 33 mounted over block 37 retains said spring in place and the latter continuously urges member 39 onto shoulder 38 Cut into the walls of the conical end of member 39 are slots 41 which extend through to the hole 38. Loosely mounted in the latter are ball members 42 which when member 38 rests on shoulder 38 are pressed so that" they project inwardly into hole 38.

The opening of slots 41 in hole 38 are so admeasured as to prevent complete passage of ball members 42 into the latter.

A laterally extending slot 43 is provided in member 39 which is so located that the upper Wall portion of the conical end of pin 18 just engages the upper edge of said slot. Pushing the pin 18 inwardly causes member 39 to be raised from shoulder 38 thus relieving the pressure on the balls 42.

Operation of this modification is the same as before. The plunger member 32 of the lift is inserted in hole 13 of the heel and the lift pushed into place. The ball members 42 pressed inwardly by engagement with shoulder 38 press against plunger member 32 and firmly hold it in place.

Removal of the worn lift is effected by pushing pin 18 inwardly which releases the pressure on ball members 43 as previously described and permits withdrawal of plunger members 32.

In all of the modifications described, head 18 and disc 22 may be concealed by a covering 44 of leather or the like, on the face of the heel. Both of the latter may also be painted any suitable color in place of being concealed, if desired.

The material of the mounting mechanism is like that described for the first modification.

It is obvious that our invention may be modified in many ways without departing from the spirit thereof and we do not wish to be limited to the exact details shown and described.

What we claim is:

1. A device for removably applying a lift to a heel, comprising a plunger member fixedly mounted to said lift, a socket member mounted in said heel into which said plunger member may a 3 be inserted, means in said socket member for frictionally engaging said plunger member to prevent the removal thereof, means for releasing said engaging means, and means for preventing -mounted to said lift, a socket member mounted in said heel into which said plunger member may be slidably inserted, means in said socket member for frictionally engaging said plunger member to prevent the removal thereof, presser actuated means for releasing said engaging means, and means for preventing rotation of said mounted lift on said heel.

3. A device for removably applying a lift to a heel comprising a plunger member fixedly mounted to said lift, a socket member mounted in said heel into which said plunger member may be inserted, spring actuated means in said socket member for frictionally engaging said plunger member to prevent the removal thereof, presser actuated means in said socket member extending externally of said heel for releasing said engaging means, and means for preventing rotation of said mounted lift on said heel.

4. A device for removably applying a lift to a heel comprising a plunger member fixedly mounted to said lift, a socket member mounted in said heel into which said plunger member may be in-* heel,

serted, roller means in said socket member for engaging said plunger member to prevent the removal thereof, means for releasing the engagement of said roller and plunger means, and means for preventing rotation of ,said mounted lift on said heel.

5. A device for removably applying a lift to a heel comprising a plunger member fixedly mounted to said lift, a socket member mounted in said heel into which said plunger member may be inserted, ball means in said socket member for engaging said plunger member to prevent the removal thereof, means for releasing the engagement of said ball and plunger means, and means for preventing rotation of said mounted lift on said heel.

6. A device for removably applying a lift to a heel, comprising a plunger member fixedly mounted to said lift, a socket member mounted in said heel into which said plunger member may be slidably inserted, spring actuated roller means in said socket member for frictionally engaging said plunger member to prevent the removal thereof, presser actuated means extending externally of said heel for releasing said engaging means, and means for preventing rotation of said mounted lift on said heel. I

'7. A device for removably applying a lift to a heel, comprising a plunger member fixedly mounted to said lift, a socket member mounted in said heel into which said plunger member may be slidably inserted, spring actuated ball means in said socket member for frictionally engaging said plunger member to prevent the removal thereof, presser actuated means extending externally of said heel for releasing said engaging means, and means for preventing rotation of said mounted lift on said heel.

8. A device for removably applying a lift to a comprising a plunger member fixedly mounted to said lift, a socket member mounted in said. heel having a hole into which said plunger member may be inserted, a roller member movably mounted in said socket member and adapted to partially project into said hole to engage said plunger member, spring actuated means to continuously urge said roller member into said engageme'nt with said plunger member, and presser actuated means extending externally of said heel for releasing the engagement between said roller member and said plunger member to permit withdrawal of the latter.

9. A device for removably applying a lift to a heel comprising a plunger member fixedly mounted to said lift, a socket member mounted in said heel having a hole into which said plunger member may be inserted, a ball member movably mounted in said socket member and adapted to partially project into said hole to engage said plunger member, a spring actuated means to continuously urge said ball member into said engagement with said plunger member, and presser actuated means extending externally of said heel for releasing the engagement between said ball member and said plunger member to permit withdrawal of the latter. 7

10. A device for removably applying a liftto a heel comprising a plunger member, fixedly mounted to said lift, a socket member mounted in said heel having a hole into which said plunger member may be inserted, a slidable member mounted in a counter-sunk portion of said hole and having a tapered portion, said counter-sunk portion joining the main portion of said hole with a tapered shoulder, ball members movably borne in the tapered portion of said slidable member and adapted to engage said plunger member, spring actuated means to continuously urge said ball members into said engagement with said plunger member, and pressure actuated means extending externally of said heel for releasing the engagement between said ball mem- 110 bers and said plunger member, to permit withdrawal of the latter.

11. A device for removably applying a lift to a heel, comprising a plunger member mounted to said lift, a socket member mounted in said heel 115 into which said plunger member may be inserted, means in said socket member for frictionally emgaging said plunger member to prevent the removal thereof, and means for releasing said engaging means to permit removal of said lift. 7 WILLIAM KOHLER.

ERNEST MARQUARDT. 

